The Powells told Channel 4 Action News' Paul Van Osdol they did some basic research into the neighborhood, but they never saw an Environmental Protection Agency website showing the park is actually a toxic dump -- a federal Superfund site containing 400 tons of pesticides that contaminated the groundwater and the soil.

The EPA says the site is safe, but a large part of it remains fenced off. On the hillside below the park are test wells and a building protected by barbed-wire fence, where the water runoff is collected.

Van Osdol: "When you bought this house, did anybody tell you what was buried beneath your park over there?"

Kelly Powell: "No, no definitely not."

Van Osdol: "So, you're learning it for the first time right now?"

Kelly Powell: "Yes."

Van Osdol: "What do you think of that?"

Kelly Powell: "I have a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old, so that does not sit well with me."

Her husband, Jim Powell, added, "You have all these homeowner's disclosures, there should be something saying you have a toxic waste dump right next to you."

But there's no law requiring home sellers to disclose that a house is located next to a toxic waste dump, and it takes more than just a basic Google search to find out what's buried beneath the neighborhood ball field.

"There is no clearinghouse for easily identifying the location of all the different hazardous, industrial waste sites that we have," said George Jugovic, of Penn Future.

House hunters may want to start by looking at the EPA's list of Superfund sites, as well as the Department of Environmental Protection's eFACTS database that lists hazardous waste sites, old landfills and everything else inspected by the state agency.

In the old days, if someone wanted to research a property, they had to go to a county office and pore through a dusty old deed book, but those days are long gone.

Allegheny County's real estate website has a wealth of information, including details on the condition of the house and the tax bill. Users can also see what the house last sold for, as well as recent sale prices of comparable homes.

But some things aren't so obvious. If the price a potential buyer expects to pay is much higher than the county assessment, attorney Shawn Flaherty suggests getting ready for a fight with the local school district.

"They're looking at the purchase price, and if it's higher than what the old value was, they're going to jump on it, and you're going to get an offer to come to an assessment appeals meeting and pay more money on your house for the taxes," said Flaherty.

Buyers will also want to know if there are liens against the home that could make it difficult to close a deal. School taxes rates and district ratings can also be found online, but as the Powell family found out, not everything is easy to track down.

"It just needs to be easier to find," said Kelly Powell. "You need to know that information before you're purchasing."